So all the GOP needs to do to win is "black it up" a little? You morons, this is why you will continue to lose. You honestly think it's about race and not about policy. You epic failures of human beings.

What the shiat? This guy is just Michael Steele with a scalpel. He's a cookie cutter republican bozo who has no concept of progressive taxation or proper methods to ensure the health of the nation.

Being from poverty you would think he'd be more aware or the asinine nature of modern conservatism, but hey he's rich now. He really is the epitome of GOP candidacy - a purebred first generation "fark you, I got mine".

When it comes to taxes, Carson pushed for a flat income tax by citing the biblical concept of tithing. "Some people say, 'Well that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made 10.' Where does it say you've got to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We don't need to hurt him,"

Except that people aren't complaining about not hurting the guy who made $10 billion. They are pointing out that a flat tax hurts the guy who made $10, while not significantly affecting the guy who made $10 billion.

jehovahs witness protection:We like the hell out of him, but people on the left HATE him because he isn't their expectations of what a black man should be. They are the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Obama is racist in liberals' eyes...even if they back another black person.

Nah, we hate him because he's GOP ignorant conservative - nothing to do with him being black.

stevetherobot:When it comes to taxes, Carson pushed for a flat income tax by citing the biblical concept of tithing. "Some people say, 'Well that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made 10.' Where does it say you've got to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We don't need to hurt him,"

Except that people aren't complaining about not hurting the guy who made $10 billion. They are pointing out that a flat tax hurts the guy who made $10, while not significantly affecting the guy who made $10 billion.

Mark 12:41-44American Standard Version (ASV)

41 And he sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

42 And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing.43 And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury:44 for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

See Michael Steele. Yes they do in fact think that is the solution. Also note he was summarily fired after one of the biggest electoral victories in the history of the House, and his white replacement was not despite failing to take back he Senate when the deck was ridiculously stacked in their favor.

But he said the best way to do that was with HSA's that could be passed on via inheritance, and that the government would still pay for the indigent. That sounds worse than what we already have. We need to get the free market as far away from healthcare as possible.

You know I usually agree with at least SOMETHING the right has to say. There wasn't a thing in that article that I didn't cringe at the small possibility of happening.

"We can make contributions for people who are indigent," Carson said. "Instead of sending all this money to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care. And very quickly they're going to learn how to be responsible."

Stood right the fark out. Health care isn't like budgeting or deciding when you can afford a new car. No one sits around, has a family meeting and says 'well now, little billy broke his arm this year, and I fell off a ladder and needed that expensive back surgery, so mom is just going to have to wait until next year to that those chemo treatments for her cancer'.

But he said the best way to do that was with HSA's that could be passed on via inheritance, and that the government would still pay for the indigent. That sounds worse than what we already have. We need to get the free market as far away from healthcare as possible.

jehovahs witness protection:We like the hell out of him, but people on the left HATE him because he isn't their expectations of what a black man should be. They are the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Obama is racist in liberals' eyes...even if they back another black person.

Oh, thanks for telling me that. I wasn't sure how I felt about the guy, beyond not caring for people who think God talks to them. I'm glad you're here to tell me what I think of him and why. That's very convenient.

HotWingConspiracy:k1j2b3: mongbiohazard:Likewise the GOP has a problem with the latino vote... so their solution is to make some noise about fixing our illegal/legal immigration mess with confidence that's going to get the latino votes. They don't even realize how condescending that sounds or how incomplete it is. They can only insist so many times that they're not racist before the denials start wearing thin - and that time was some time ago.

So apparently when actual hispanics decide to talk about immigration (Rubio, e.g.) it is still racist...if you are a conservative hispanic. I get it. Only liberal hispanics are 'real' hispanics.

Rubio probably isn't a racist, but his party and their financial backers are. He's a marketing gimmick.

Plus you need to consider how everyone that isn't Cuban feels about the sweetheart treatment that Cubans get in terms of immigration.

Being a naturalized Latino immigrant, allow me to break down the two reasons why I think the GOP's "softened" stance on immigration isn't going to work.

1.) Because even though they are now making a lot of noise about a path to citizenship, they are still very much adamant about slashing the safety net down to nothing, which a disproportionately poor demographic such as Hispanics still benefits greatly from. This is why Marco Rubio isn't going to do shiat for them in securing the Latino vote in the end; because he is yet another "fark you I got mine" conservative who just knows how to roll his Rs.

It's not just the inherent racism and xenophobia; it's the fact that "job creator" fellators like Rubio are all too happy to eliminate pell grants, student loans, and other vital forms of government assistance that help us Latinos to get ahead, so they can provide yet another corporate tax break.

2.) Because the GOP still has a HUGE problem renouncing their kooks. Whenever one of these assholes says something stupid, the GOP reaction at large is usually half-assed and contrived, and does not address the problem at large. They usually say something along the lines of "that's not the language I would have used" instead of fully repudiating the mentality behind said statement; it's always just "I'm sorry you were offended" bullshiat.

And, as pointed out, Rubio is Cuban. He has had a completely different experience than the rest of us immigrants. I don't resent him for it, but I do resent the fact that there is perceived notion that just because we're both Latino, we're going to relate. He did not experience the trials and tribulations the majority of us have to go through to obtain citizenship, and while he does have a more evolved position than the rest of his party when he comes to immigration, he still refuses to publicly acknowledge that his own party has alienated Latinos to an immeasurable degree.

His interview with Stewart was direct evidence. Stewart flat out told him the GOP needs to soften its rhetoric towards Latinos, and Rubio basically said "No, I don't see that". He was either oblivious to it (unlikely) or was pretending to be, which is worse.

Sergeant Grumbles:But this guy's plan is worse.Inheritable HSA's? I mean.... what the holy fark. Let's just drop the pretense that this is anything else but a way for the wealthy to further segregate themselves from those wretched poors.

It's a terrible idea for several reasons:

1. Doesn't do anything to require people to have healthcare. Half the population can't go without raiding their 401(k)s to buy flat-screen t.v.s and iPhones. What makes anybody think that the low-income people won't fund/borrow from (if possible) their HSAs, and choose to go without health insurance ... the same way they do now.

2. What steps are in place to make sure that insurance companies are offering coverage that will be affordable for those who have no resources other than the government subsidy? If the subsidy doesn't cover the cost of coverage, what good is it? If it does, but there's only one available option, how is that any different than the current Medicaid model?

3. "Personal responsibility" when it comes to healthcare is a largely bullshiat idea. If you give them the ability not to have insurance, some won't, whether it's out of income difficulties, disinterest, ennui, or whatever. But they'll still get sick/hurt anyway, and show up at the emergency room, just as they do now. Are we going to turn them away now because they've made bad choices to not have insurance that might have otherwise been available to them? How is this system really any different than what we have now, except that we're diverting more taxpayer dollars into private insurance companies?

I'm in my mid-20's and even I don't have one because I'd rather have comprehensive insurance instead of taking a chance and having to pay out of pocket for my medical expenses if something bad were to happen to me.

But this guy's plan is worse.Inheritable HSA's? I mean.... what the holy fark. Let's just drop the pretense that this is anything else but a way for the wealthy to further segregate themselves from those wretched poors.

Why would I want someone as egotistical as a neurosurgeon to be my President? How does that make them a good President? Is his qualification that he's black .... and that's it? So I guess the GOP still just doesn't get it and they're going to shoot themselves in the foot AGAIN.

k1j2b3:I think I would trust a neurosurgeon who has spent more than 35 years in healthcare and insurance to know more than 99% of the commenters.

The American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Osteopathic Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American College of Cardiology all support Obamacare.

But this one dude at Hopkins is against ObamaCare.

I would trust these 10 major medical groups representing hundreds of thousands of doctors over a wide variety of sub-specialties over his one guy. But you wouldn't. Hey, it is what it is.

Seems he went in to medicine because he's a complete retard on domestic policy.

"Instead of sending all this money to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care. And very quickly they're going to learn how to be responsible."

No, they'll learn what a con medical pricing is and their HSA will be wiped out by one trip to the doctor.

Anyone advocating HSA's as some magic responsibility creating vehicle just isn't very smart about people. Plus there are the optics of "my plan revolves around the idea that people need tax relief to afford Advil, and they should be happy with that" to consider.

spiderpaz:Why would I want someone as egotistical as a neurosurgeon to be my President? How does that make them a good President? Is his qualification that he's black .... and that's it? So I guess the GOP still just doesn't get it and they're going to shoot themselves in the foot AGAIN.

Gais... Gais... Guess what.. Gaissssss. GAIS! WE GOT A BLACK GUY!

That means we're not racist cause we have a black friend now!

Gais, Gais, This is sweet we are so not racist now. We got Herman Cain, this dude, and Marco Rubio! That's like three! Gais! THREE!!

We are SO not racist. We love minorities so much they make up .000000000001% of the party and we'll talk about them for like 10 whole minutes before stuffing them into their minority cage until the next election cycle.

jehovahs witness protection:We like the hell out of him, but people on the left HATE him because he isn't their expectations of what a black man should be. They are the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Obama is racist in liberals' eyes...even if they back another black person.

Still a member of the GOP and I didn't see him say much about his social policies. If he's a social moderate, the GOP establishment won't give him a shot...if he's a wacky social conservative, the electorate won't give him a shot.

o5iiawah:No, i'm lumping the militant black left, who calls their own sellouts, house negros, tokens and uncle toms with other black militant leftists who call their own sellouts, house negros, tokens and uncle toms. Let me put it to you this way. Robert Byrd had an "A" rating from the NAACP. Tim Scott has an F.

You mean to tell me they're judging them by the content of their character, and not by the color of their skin?! Boy, whoever decided on stupid decision making like that...

o5iiawah:No, i'm lumping the militant black left, who calls their own sellouts, house negros, tokens and uncle toms with other black militant leftists who call their own sellouts, house negros, tokens and uncle toms. Let me put it to you this way. Robert Byrd had an "A" rating from the NAACP. Tim Scott has an F.

Well maybe Tim Scott shouldn't vote against civil rights and then cry about it.

GilRuiz1:Ben Carson's story is a lot like my dad's, actually. Born dirt poor, and taught from an early age that the only way to get ahead was to study hard and work even harder. After a lifetime of toil, they both achieved success. That dedication to schooling and work is what got them ahead. If Ben Carson can get that idea across to more people, I say more power to him.

k1j2b3:I am looking for a smart candidate with the ability to explain conservative ideas to Americans in plain English.

The problem with the Republican party is not a failure to communicate ideas. They've already got half the country voting against their interests because "small government" and "lower taxes" sound like good ideas to people who are ignorant of history and don't want to think too hard about economics and governance. Frank Lutz has practically invented a new language to sell the Republican snake oil to the masses. The Supreme Court has opened the flood gates for crazy casino moguls and libertarian trust fund brats to bombard the airwaves with their propoganda. "Think tanks" are given millions and millions of dollars to come up with new ways to rationalize the wretched GOP philosophy. Communication is not the problem. The ideas are the problem.

Americans want good wages. Americans want their parents and themselves and their children to be able to retire. Americans want everyone to have access to quality healthcare and education. But Republican policy aims to drive down labor costs, remove what little social insurance we have, and privatize everything to ensure that only the rich can afford it.

AdolfOliverPanties:Carson told Sean Hannity on Fox News, "If the Lord grabbed me by the collar and made me do it, I would. It's not my intention." Hannity replied, "I would vote for you in a heartbeat."

"Some people say, 'Well that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made 10.' Where does it say you've got to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We don't need to hurt him," Carson said.

We don't want to hurt the top guy, you idiot. The point of a progressive tax is to NOT hurt the small guy, not to hurt the top guy. The top guy, having to spend a little more in taxes, is not hurt because he can still live a high quality of life while the little guy can still put food on the table.

jjorsett:That's a lot of wasted characters. Next time shorten it to, "His opinions differ from mine."

Holier than thou only works if you're actually holier. Republicans are not holier.

Let's play a game. You make a list of all the mean names the bad Liberals called this man. I'll make a list of mean names Conservatives call President Obama on a regular basis. We'll see who has the worse list. Hint: it won't be you.

So my understanding this guy has NO political experience, and they want him to be president?

I remembered when they used to attack Obama for not having enough political experience (heck they were even doing it last election after he was president for 4 years) when he had around 10 years of political experience when he first ran.

Ben Carson comes out in favor of Health Savings Accounts and a flat tax and suddenly he vaults into the lead for the Republican nomination. if that's the case it speaks volumes to the low quality of Republican candidates. Just because Carson believes these things doesn't make them any more or less valid. A flat tax is regressive plain and simple. HSA's for everyone may sound good but how much can the average and below average worker put into an HSA to cover himself and the family. The government will help but how much will that cost? "The devil is in the details" may sound cliched but Carson will soon learn that things are not as simple as they appear.

MacEnvy:So all the GOP needs to do to win is "black it up" a little? You morons, this is why you will continue to lose. You honestly think it's about race and not about policy. You epic failures of human beings.

Not to mention the Republicans are playing the Long Primary that caused Romney to implode. Why the fark are they running for 2016, again? 2014 is right around the corner and a lot of people are realizing the Republican Congress is doing a lot of shiatty things right now. Not to mention it's quite pointless to start looking for someone to run against a President who won't even be able to run in 2016. Why are they choose an Obamabuster now?

The Republicans are trying their hardest to paste their shiatty viewpoints on someone who isn't an old white asshole and it simply is not working. Not only are they still pulling their same old tired shiat, they're still fighting against a president that kicked their asses twice who has basically won against them. Yet notice they're still farking that chicken as well.

But he said the best way to do that was with HSA's that could be passed on via inheritance, and that the government would still pay for the indigent. That sounds worse than what we already have. We need to get the free market as far away from healthcare as possible.

I had a professor like this in when I was in college back in 2009. He was a genius guy, but that whole idea astounds me just from a policy perspective. He basically said "look, if the problem is people unable to get insurance, than the least invasive solution is for the government to back private pre-existing condition insurance plans like they do student loans! Once the free market knows there is profit to be made, we can have universal coverage if people want it while leaving people free to not buy insurance if they want!"

He was also someone who complained about both parties pursuing rent-seeking policy, and I can't think of anything more rent-seeking than the government agreeing to cover any losses if someone gets sick but in return the person has to pay a private company to get that government care. There's a reason we stopped doing the student loan thing he mentioned: it makes no sense to have a middleman who exists entirely to profit from the deal. Add in the fact that so much of the safety net is on the chopping block because it's obviously full of lazy abusers, and that tells me his solution would end up casting everyone who has ever gotten cancer and then had their policy lapse is now one of those selfish takers who are scamming the system.

I say this to you and I'm completely serious: If you truly like him you will have to fight tooth and nail for him. If he seriously throws his hat in the ring there will be a fierce pushback from many of the Fundamentalists that are still so powerful in the Republican Party. They were willing to hold their nose once for Romney---they will not abide being shut out two elections in a row, and especially not for guy who's modern prophet is a woman.

hackalope:So HSAs have been working in Singapore for a while now. I personally worry about consumer fraud, failures of long term personal planning, and how the finical apparatus to actually save the money would work. That being said it's one of the more viable ways to address heath care problems, it a legitimate view.

A few things. First, Singapore doctors (who accept the national insurance anyway) are strictly limited in what they can charge for any given procedure. Hear a lot of support for price controls here?

Beyond that, fully half the working-age population of Singapore are 'guest workers', who get shipped back to Bangladesh or the Philippines when they hit 55 or start having medical issues, whichever comes first. They do pay into the social insurance systems they don't stand a chance of getting anything out of though. So that's nice.

k1j2b3:I think you all missed what the HSA idea was about. Instead of paying into Medicare our whole lives, that would be put into a personal HSA account. At least, that was the basic idea. Dr. Carson said that there was more detail to it than that, so he was just throwing out an idea.

I think this makes sense. It would be in lieu of health insurance. You spend in on medical needs as necessary throughout life. It would be up to the elderly person with a lot to spend in his HSA account, if he wanted that knee replacement at 90 or a quadruple bypass at 85, or if he'd rather not spend that money and pass it on to his family.

Now, I see do see a problem with this simplified explanation. What happens to the baby at 2 years old that needs heart surgery and doesn't have enough money in an HSA? I'd be curious to hear more about the whole idea.

Or you know, ANYONE that needs major medical care. Do you have any concept of what the average income is in this nation?

People on this commenting board seem to think that if we do a new idea like this, that the system we have today will be the same one we are dealing with. The whole point is to create cheaper and smarter healthcare. I think I would trust a neurosurgeon who has spent more than 35 years in healthcare and insurance to know more than 99% of the commenters.

Do you think he's doing accounting or something? Because he isn't. Being smart or capable at something doesn't mean you're smart and capable in all things.

mongbiohazard:Likewise the GOP has a problem with the latino vote... so their solution is to make some noise about fixing our illegal/legal immigration mess with confidence that's going to get the latino votes. They don't even realize how condescending that sounds or how incomplete it is. They can only insist so many times that they're not racist before the denials start wearing thin - and that time was some time ago.

So apparently when actual hispanics decide to talk about immigration (Rubio, e.g.) it is still racist...if you are a conservative hispanic. I get it. Only liberal hispanics are 'real' hispanics.

There is no way HSA can "work right". There is no way to properly price medical services. It just can't. When you're at death's door and there is a way to bring you back to full health, wouldn't you take it, regardless of the cost? What if it costs you $10,000 a month for medicine that you have to take for the rest of your life? What if it is $100,000? $1,000,000? Basically, there's no max because people don't have an alternative.

Insurance is one way to mitigate this by spreading the cost to various people as opposed to lumping all the cost on the individual. But that still doesn't prevent ballooning prices for medical services. This is why all of healthcare must be a non-profit driven industry and must be heavily regulated.

This is America. Theoretically, anyone's got a chance. Let him run. I don't think he'll get past the primaries, but who knows? Give it a shot.

[checks Wiki....]

Oh shiat....he's a Seventh-Day Adventist? Good luck with that. I would be very very surprised if he gets the Fundie nod. Then again, then held their noses for Romney and Joseph Smith. They might hold their nose for Carson and Ellen G. White.

Carson told Sean Hannity on Fox News, "If the Lord grabbed me by the collar and made me do it, I would. It's not my intention."

Ahhhh, gotta love that good 'ol fashioned feigned humility.

MacEnvy:So all the GOP needs to do to win is "black it up" a little? You morons, this is why you will continue to lose. You honestly think it's about race and not about policy. You epic failures of human beings.

Annnnd THIS.

Likewise the GOP has a problem with the latino vote... so their solution is to make some noise about fixing our illegal/legal immigration mess with confidence that's going to get the latino votes. They don't even realize how condescending that sounds or how incomplete it is. They can only insist so many times that they're not racist before the denials start wearing thin - and that time was some time ago.

But he said the best way to do that was with HSA's that could be passed on via inheritance, and that the government would still pay for the indigent. That sounds worse than what we already have. We need to get the free market as far away from healthcare as possible.

HSA's are worthless.

I'm in my mid-20's and even I don't have one because I'd rather have comprehensive insurance instead of taking a chance and having to pay out of pocket for my medical expenses if something bad were to happen to me.

Get a less expensive high-deductible plan and put the money you save into the HSA. Then if you have a good year where you don't get sick or see a dr more than a time or two, you're way ahead.

They're utterly irrelevant. They're a way to control the costs of sniffle-n-backache vists (by making generally healthy people avoid going to the doctor for anything). Sadly, all the cases where HSAs/HDHPs have much effect add up to a rounding error in the 80% of health spending that's on cancer, heart attacks, strokes, major trauma, and end-stage kidney/cardio-pulmonary/etc. Things that are 'catastrophes' even with deductibles of $10,000 or more.

"Instead of sending all this money to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care. And very quickly they're going to learn how to be responsible."

People will just choose not to get sick, and certainly not to develop long term chronic illnesses that require years of expensive care.

spiderpaz:Why would I want someone as egotistical as a neurosurgeon to be my President? How does that make them a good President? Is his qualification that he's black .... and that's it? So I guess the GOP still just doesn't get it and they're going to shoot themselves in the foot AGAIN.

The average neurosurgeon is much less egotistical than the most humble president. That being said, there are plenty of reasons why a certain level of narcissism is a necessary trait in either position.

But he said the best way to do that was with HSA's that could be passed on via inheritance, and that the government would still pay for the indigent. That sounds worse than what we already have. We need to get the free market as far away from healthcare as possible.

HSA's are worthless.

I'm in my mid-20's and even I don't have one because I'd rather have comprehensive insurance instead of taking a chance and having to pay out of pocket for my medical expenses if something bad were to happen to me.

Elandriel:What the shiat? This guy is just Michael Steele with a scalpel. He's a cookie cutter republican bozo who has no concept of progressive taxation or proper methods to ensure the health of the nation.

Being from poverty you would think he'd be more aware or the asinine nature of modern conservatism, but hey he's rich now. He really is the epitome of GOP candidacy - a purebred first generation "fark you, I got mine".

jehovahs witness protection:We like the hell out of him, but people on the left HATE him because he isn't their expectations of what a black man should be. They are the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Obama is racist in liberals' eyes...even if they back another black person.

Please tell me more what my expectations of what a black male should be, should be.

We like the hell out of him, but people on the left HATE him because he isn't their expectations of what a black man should be. They are the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Obama is racist in liberals' eyes...even if they back another black person.